Greece: Insider's guide to the Peloponnese, Ionian Islands and Crete

Robin Gauldie reveals the best beaches and resorts in the Peloponnese, Ionian
Islands and Crete, both off the beaten track and right in the mainstream.

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Knossos is an ancient Minoan city that makes a popular day trip on Crete

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Crete has some of the best luxury resort hotels in Greece

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Cephalonia has postcard-pretty villages at Fiskardo and AssosPhoto: GETTY

By Robin Gauldie

1:45PM GMT 16 Feb 2009

The Peloponnese

There's lots of variety in southern Greece. Ancient Olympia, Corinth, Mycenae, Epidavros and Tiryns lure classicists, while medievalists are drawn to the crumbling castles and Venetian-Byzantine ghost towns of Mystras, Monemvasia, Koroni and Methoni. The pretty harbour town of Navplio – all red tiles and pastel stucco – is the perfect base for exploring the antiquities of the Argolid. The tower-villages of the Mani peninsula stand in a world of their own, and for beach bums there are small and peaceful resorts.

Stoupa and Kardamyli, next to each other on the south coast, are small, low-key resorts. Krani, west of the regional airport at Kalamata, has turned into a purpose-built resort of mid-priced apartments and small hotels. Almost undeveloped sweeps of sand can be found around Pílos, on the west coast.

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From Navplio, rent a car to visit ancient Mycenae, Argos, Tiryns and Epidavros, four of the most impressive archaeological sites in Greece and – for much of the year – surprisingly uncrowded.

Perfect packages

Inntravel (01653 617906; www.inntravel.co.uk) offers a week in the Notos Hotel, an elegant boutique property in Kardamyli, from £658 self-catering, including flights to Kalamata and hire car.

Great Rail Journeys (01904 521 980; www.greatrail.com) has a 14-day Athens and Peloponnese escorted tour by rail and coach, visiting Olympia, the Lousios Gorge, the Kalavrita mountain railway, Corinth, Mycenae and Epidavros, Hydra and Spetsai for £1,895 including all travel.

Ionian Islands

There's more to the Ionian than overcrowded Corfu. Cephalonia has postcard-pretty villages at Fiskardo and Assos, though it's short of great beaches. Its tiny neighbour, Ithaki, has the prettiest little harbour town in the Ionian but, like Cephalonia, it's beach-poor. Levkás is the place for windsurfing and sailing holidays, with yacht flotillas cruising through an archipelago of tiny islands that includes the Onassis clan's private bolt-hole, Scorpios.

Best beaches

Zakynthos has the Ionian's best beaches, at Laganas and Kalamaki, which inevitably draw the crowds. Vasiliki, on the south coast of Levkás, is a low-key little resort with a long sweep of uncrowded sand and shingle. Skala, near the southern tip of Cephalonia, is another relatively undiscovered stretch of sand and clean pebbles stretching down to bright blue water.

Perfect days out

The Ionian Islands aren't over-endowed with must-see attractions, but the glowing blue lake inside the Melissani cavern in the centre of Cephalonia is worth a visit. For a longer excursion (involving an overnight stay) take the ferry from Zakynthos or Cephalonia to Killini on the mainland, then travel by bus or taxi to the ruins of ancient Olympia, about an hour's drive away.

Perfect packages

Greek Islands Club (020 8232 9780; www.greekislandsclub.com) offers a week in the Olive Press, a villa for two with its own pool on Paxos, from £723 including flights and car hire.

Exclusive Escapes (020 8605 3500; www.exclusiveescapes.co.uk) offers a week in the Almyra boutique hotel at Fiskardo on Cephalonia from £550 including flights. Seven nights at the Kiki Apartments, also in Fiskardo, from £350.

Crete

For the best luxury resort hotels in Greece, look no further than the north coast of Crete. The newly relaunched Out of the Blue Capsis Elite (28108 11112; www.capsis.com; from £120 per night) is really five hotels in one (the Crystal Energy Hotel, Eternal Oasis, Ruby Red Regal Hotel, Divine Thalassa, and the OH! All-Suite Hotel), set on a private peninsula not far west of Heraklion.

It's a 21st-century cocoon, with post-Soviet oligarch designer chic throughout. Meanwhile, the resorts on the Elounda peninsula, around an hour's drive west of Heraklion, continue to set the benchmark for luxury in Greece. For trimmings, such as private beaches, floodlit tennis, top-end water sports, health spas and gourmet restaurants, you can't go far wrong with Elounda gems such as the Blue Palace Resort & Spa (28410 65500; www.bluepalace.gr; from £310 per night), Elounda Bay Palace (28410 67000; www.eloundabay.gr; from £260 per night), the small and intimate Elounda Gulf Villas and Suites (28410 90300; www.eloundavillas.com, from £250 per night) or the Elounda Beach Hotel & Villas (28410 63000; www.eloundabeach.gr; from £600 per night).

Head west for stylish and affordable boutique hotels in the historic Venetian centres of Rethymnon and Chania, go bush in the mountain forests of the far west, or make for the south coast, where a certain post-hippy, New Age vibe still permeates.

Best beaches

Crete's best beaches are on the south coast. Matala – once a hippy haven, still agreeably laid-back – has a crescent of yellow sand; those in search of an all-over tan hike over the headland to nearby "Red Beach". Heading west, Plakias has a huge stretch of shingly sand, Sougia stands on a long strip of clean pebbles, and Paleochora has a sheltered, shallow sandy bay, good for young children.

Perfect days out

The island's top attraction is Knossos, the ancient Minoan city excavated and (somewhat imaginatively) reconstructed by Sir Arthur Evans. Roman-Hellenistic Gortyna, near Matala, is worth a look, but the island's other big Minoan site at Festos is an anti­climax.

Perfect packages

Pure Crete (0845 070 1571; www.purecrete.com) offers villas and traditional houses with pools starting at £570 for one week, including flights, and also has wild flower and walking holidays starting at £725.

Planet Holidays (0871 871 2234 www.planet-holidays.co.uk) features the Out of the Blue Capsis hotel from around £970, including flights.